


Nothing Hurts Quite Like This

by cooler_inperson



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Betrayal, Character Study, Gen, I Tried, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-15 04:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20860217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cooler_inperson/pseuds/cooler_inperson
Summary: Andrico learns that some things hurt more than he could ever imagine.





	Nothing Hurts Quite Like This

**Author's Note:**

> Quick translation notes:
> 
> Chéf: leader
> 
> Kolan gét manman'w: fuck your mother
> 
> Nég andeyó: country boy
> 
> Djab: demon; evil spirit

“Would like to say something? To your people? To me? After all, this will be your last chance.”

Andrico stared straight ahead. To look at the crowd was to risk seeing his mother. To see his mother was to see her grief. To see her grief was to remind him of his position. Shackled, forced to his knees. About to branded like a cow for all of Port Joyeuse to see. Ah, well. Might as well go out with a bang.

He took a deep breath. 

“To my people,” he began, “I have nothing to say. All the love I have I showed through my actions.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Eyes trained on the woman before him, Andrico smirked. “To you, dear Chéf Madeleine I say, and I mean it from the depths of my heart…”

He paused for effect.

“**Kolan gét manman'w**.”

The crowd’s response was immediate. Gasps, cheers, and insults rang up in a riotous chorus. A few guards began to move towards him, but Chéf Madeleine gestured for them to stop. A sad smile played on her lips. She had seen it coming.

“Yves-Andrico Saintelus,” she said with a shake of her head.

Even now, she could not hide the affection or her pain in her voice. It made him sick.

“For your crimes against the state, you are hereby banished from Ayiti and all Ayitian territories. You shall never step foot in the land of your ancestors as long as you draw breath. To return here to is to return to certain death. Do you understand?”

Some small part of him wanted to say no just to see what would happen. But a larger part of him was too tired to be contrary so he nodded his head once in agreement. Realizing that was all the answer she would get from him, Chéf Madeleine motioned to the man holding the branding iron. Moving closer, the man bent down slightly to speak to him.

“Count backwards from ten,” he whispered gently.

Andrico grunted in acknowledgement. He took another deep breath.

**Dis.**

_She smiled at him like he hung the sun in the sky. He still wasn’t quite sure what he did to deserve it but he’ll keep doing it anyway._

_“When this is all over, I want to get married.”_

_Andrico chuckled as he ran his thumb over her knuckles._

_“You’re sure your parents would be happy with you bringing yon nég andeyó into your family?”_

_She twined their fingers together against his chest._

_“Oh ‘Drico, they will love you because I do.”_

**Néf.**

_Killing didn’t get easier. Marvin was a liar and probably just a sociopath._

_But, he reasoned, it was all for a good cause right?_

_His eyes travelled across the battlefield._

_It had to be for a good cause._

**Uit.**

_“I mean, I know things are bad right now… fucked up if we’re going to be frank, but a revolution?”_

_Brown eyes followed Madeline as she paced the small hut._

_“What other choice do we have? The government is corrupt and the people are suffering ‘Drico! Do you not remember what happened at Carrefour d'Orchidées?”_

_He did. Of course he did. A party turned protest turned government-sanctioned massacre. One of many government-sanctioned massacres. And yet…_

_“Do you think it would work?”_

_Madeleine turned to him. “Maybe, maybe not. Can’t be worse than how we’re living now.”_

_If she only knew._

**Sèt.**

_“How much do you love me?“ _

_She asked this as they basked naked under the stars. Honestly, this woman._

_“Enough to get mosquito bites on my ball sack that’s for sure.”_

_She swatted his shoulder, hard._

_Andrico sucked his teeth._

_“What do you want me to say? That I would die for you? That I would bring you the stars if you asked?”_

_Madeleine hid her smirk in his shoulder._

_“Maybe.”_

_He huffed in frustration. _

_“That I would follow you anywhere? Even to the depths of the grave?”_

_She hummed in a noncommittal tones._

_“That I would do anything for you?”_

_She looked at him then. “Anything?”_

_“Yes woman, anything. Didn’t I just say I would die for you and bring you the stars? Now can we please put on some clothes? I felt a tickle near my backdoor and I’m not entirely sure it was grass.”_

_Madeleine’s laughter rang bright through the darkness._

**Sis.**

_Andrico never had the pleasure of smelling charred human flesh before, but he was sure he was never going to forget it._

_He retched violently into the bushes._

**Senk.**

_“What about Pascal? That’s a nice name.”_

_His face contorted in disgust._

_“Okay, fine. What about Franz?_

_"That’s even worse.”_

_“Michel?”_

_“Ehn.”_

_“…Yves?”_

_“What?! No! I hate that name and I refuse to pass it on to future generations! Why are we talking about this anyway? It’s not like you’re even pregnant.”_

_“We can change that.”_

_Her heated look had his pants flying across the room in record time._

**Kat.**

_He didn’t think he could bare to look at her._

_“Yves-Andrico. I asked you a question: how much do you love me?”_

_“You know the answer to that.”_

_“Yes, yes. You love me enough to die for me, to bring me the stars, to follow me to the grave. Fine and dandy. Do you love me enough to trust me, though?”_

_Andrico stared into coffee-black eyes._

_“I don’t know anymore." _

**Twa.**

_A child’s hand poked out from the pile of bodies._

_A child’s._

_A heavy hand rested on his shoulder._

_"Sometimes evil must be done for the greater good,” Marvin said quietly._

_Andrico didn’t even flinch as they lit the pyre._

**De.**

_“So this is how it’s going to be huh? You’re just going to throw me to the sharks.”_

_He didn’t even bother to hide his tears, his heartbreak. _

_“You think I want to do this?!”_

_“At this point, yes!”_

_Madeleine looked as though she was ready to tear through her intricately placed braids._

_“I told you Andrico, I have no choice! Our victory is tentative at best. If the people see who they feel is a murderer, yon djab…”_

_“I was a murderer for you! I became a djab for **you**!”_

_“…walking the streets free, all the hard work we did would be for nothing! The Augustine-regime sympathizers will get a foothold and we’re back to square one!”_

_Coffee-black met brown._

_“Is that what you want Andrico? For all your hard work to go to waste?”_

_He stared back coolly. At this point what he wanted didn’t matter. _

_He was starting to think it never did._

**Youn.**

_He should help her. He really should help her. But seeing the frustration on her face as she tried to catch that chicken was too cute._

_She tripped and fell into the mud. Okay, fine. He guessed it was time to help._

_“You have to sing to her.”_

_His breath caught in his throat when she turned to face him fully. Even covered in filth, he could see that she was beautiful. Long lashes, full lips, and skin that reminded him of his grandmother’s lacquered jewelry box. And those eyes…_

_Oh but praise to the All Mothers, he thinks he may be in love!_

_She threw him an incredulous look._

_“What?”_

_“You have to sing to her.”_

_He gestured towards the finicky chicken._

_“Just watch.”_

_Hopping over to their side of the fence, he began to croon at the chicken. Soon enough the chicken began to waddle over to him. Sure, the song was about stewing her and serving her with a side of rice, but hey. It’s not like chickens spoke Kréyol anyway._

_“That was amazing,” she said as he bundled the chicken into her arms._

_“Not really. Madame Poulet is just lady of refined tastes.”_

_His heart swelled as he heard her giggle. Suddenly she blinked up at him in realization._

_“Oh my, where are my manners! My name is Madeleine.”_

_He grabbed her outstretched hand._

_“Andrico.”_

_“Well Monsieur Andrico, want to walk me back to my host’s home? I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to know that you helped me find their chicken.”_

_“If you’re staying with Matant Yvonne, gladly. She always has the best sweets.”_

_Though if he were honest, he’d probably follow her anywhere._

**Zewo.**

Andrico was numb enough at that point he didn’t feel the hot iron meet his skin. Ah, just as well. Nothing could possibly hurt as much as heartbreak could it?

As he watched a single tear fall from Madeleine’s eye, he realized that maybe some things could.

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me on my [ tumblr ](https://ilyamatic.tumblr.com)


End file.
